Angry Joe vs. His Community

Two Month Vactation

For those who don't know I will give you a little background on what happened between Angry Joe and his community. So, Joe made a video claiming he was going on a two month vacation where he won't do any angry reviews. This of course lead to some backlash between him and his fans which lead to a Twitter meltdown. As a result of the meltdown Angry Joe has disabled comments and ratings on his new videos here's a quote directly from Joe's twitter.

"I've decided to disable all comments & ratings on all videos for the next month. I want to see what it does to the viewership & engagement."

Now I'm not bring this up for drama because I understand both arguments that are being presented. Also I'm a fan of Angry Joe who generally watches most of his content. However, I do like angry reviews and his top 10 lists more than most of his other content. That said, this is a real issue between creators and their communities because there's a disconnect between both sides. Of course there will be those who feel entitled to content, and people who leave constructive feedback. Now Joe disabling comments while I understand it I believe he should re-enable them. Personally I believe this shows Joe has a fragile ego and he can't handle criticism well. YouTube comments have always been a cesspool and full of negativity along with constructive feedback. Which is what I'm doing right now because I will write what both sides are arguing.

Angry Joe | Source

Angry Joe

Lets start with Angry Joe and his real main argument on his meltdown against his community. Here's a quote from his twitter again where he states he's given his fans nine years of free content.

"I gave them 9 years of free content, more than 1,135 videos and I can't get any love on my own channel to produce additional content I want."

I will be honest that's true Angry Joe should be able to create the content he wants. But, he is famous for his reviews which granted gives him the most views out of all his other videos. Now is it free content? Yes we don't technically pay him by viewing his videos and he does do this on his own time, and spends his own money in creating these videos. However, this can be used against him because it's technically not completely free because he does get paid for his videos. So, while I believe he should make the content that makes him happy he also needs to do what he's known for. But, that's a difficult choice because you have to do one or the other and not in the middle.

Unhappy Joe | Source

So, here is where he kinda lost it and I believe him that some of the comments in YouTube are bad. But, here's what he posted on twitter and we'll discuss it.

"No I will never turn off comments. Ever. If i have to ignore a few bitchy whiny kids to get to the great discussion so be it. Not a biggie."

"Except when there is no great discussion in the comments and people are determined to make my comments section a shit fest in all videos."

So, here's where he lost it on Twitter and I understand YouTube comments can be grotesque. But, as you first said you should ignore it because you will get criticism and hate because you are a big YouTube celebrity with 2.8 million subscribers. You should know by now that YouTube comments can be pretty negative but a lot of YouTuber's ignore it. Is it hurtful absolutely I don't think anyone deserves hate or negativity. But, when you become a public figure it's gonna happen which is unfortunate. A person who I believe gets much more hate his Boogie2988 because he's overweight. At least some good news is he's getting surgery to help him loose weight and I'm glad for him.

The Community

Now lets go over towards the community and what they're thinking. Angry Joe has good points and I understand where he's coming from but a meltdown over some negative ratings on your two month vacation video is sad. Also in reality that's not really that bad ratings it was near 55/45 from likes to dislikes. While that's huge and first for you it's not the end of the world all it is is the fans telling you do what your known for. Also if you don't want to do angry reviews anymore just come out and say it. He's trying to diversify his videos and trying to create new audiences which is understandable. However, when you're big content creator you have to appeal to your core base as well.

We Address Our Community

So, a lot fans in his community are using this video as a promise that he would do one to two angry reviews per month. I'll be clear in no way shape or form was this video a promise. In this video they wanted to attempt to do a set schedule and for a while it worked they for the most part stuck to. But, about month and half ago his schedule fell apart and July 14th is when the meltdown started. People are upset and they have right to be upset because you laid out a schedule. While this isn't a promise people are expecting you to try and keep it to the best of your ability. Everyone can understand if something comes up and you need to delay a review it's not the end of the world because it's still coming. However, when you completely blow off reviews that's going to have some backlash. Also this an example that's been brought up if this 9 to 5 job where the boss wants something done and you don't deliver on it because something comes up. you will more and likely be fired because you're undependable. Since this is essentially your own boss situation you're only accountable to yourself and what you want to do. But, you also have a community who watch you and support you financially. So, the decision is make the community happy or yourself because this is essentially a business now and you need to make money. Lets be honest his reviews gets more views than his other videos because that's what he's known for. If he did content he's doing now and was never known for his reviews he'd have a significantly less subscribers than he does now.

Comments Disabled | Source

Now his community while some are being negative on his decision to disable comments there's some who legitimately criticize this. Because this is very reminiscent of DSP or Spoony on YouTube which is full circle from Angry Joe who's been very good with his community ever since he started and did his venture in Blistered Thumbs. The Blistered Thumbs Angry Joe would slap today's Angry Joe because you're beholden to your fans who are the ones who got you to the position you're at now. That said, there's those who feel entitled and in no way are they because we aren't the ones creating the content. There's however a expectation of you to deliver on the content you're known for and it's okay to branch out because we don't have tune it for that. But, when snub your main audience that's not a very good move and it will likely hurt you in long run. Disabling comments and ratings won't solve the issues you will still continue to be criticized. In your own words you should ignore it because if you dwell on negativity it'll take you to a dark place.

But, it's only for a month and we'll see what happens after that month and how people will respond on YouTube. There's been fair amount of discussions on his community forums, his subreddit, his Twitter, and likely Twitch as well. In the end I hope Angry Joe comes out with another video addressing what happened but I don't think he will, and I will continue to watch him but this a stain on his reputation. If you can't handle a bruised ego than you have problems with yourself image. Haters are going to hate and you have to handle it the best you can.

Angry Joe from top 10 2012 games. | Source

Conclusion

I just want conclude by saying I wanted discuss this because this is real issue when creators and fans have a disconnect which leads to a fallout. If the fallout is big enough channels can die pretty quickly because you'll loose out on a majority of your fan base. It also can hurt the creators reputation among other fans who might not be his core but watch his other content. I hope that he will change his decision on the comments and ratings but it's not the end of the world having them disabled just for a month. I don't really think this move will hurt Joe that badly but if he leaves it disabled more for a month he could be in trouble. Well, I just want to thank you all for reading this. Hopefully you'll give Joe some time because he doesn't deserve the hate he's getting. He and his fans are both to blame because of the disconnect.